Audley Shaw is one man who seems to get excited every time he see a microphone and a camera and appears to feel compelled to “speak his mind”.

Audley however needs to recognize now that he is no longer the opposition spokesman on Finance and neither is he in search of the next big scandal. The post that he carries is a big one and one that carries high visibility. The words of the Finance Minister extends beyond the shores of Jamaica and so those words must be chosen deliberately and carefully.

Audley cannot afford to speak loosely anymore and neither can he afford to speak out of turn as this to lead to credibility problem from himself and that of the government.

For Audley to be looking for money that has not yet been collected, shows either ignorance on his part or an attempt to misled the country .

Shaw must recognize that going forward he must focus on being diligent as Peter was and get the job done. What he did here has hurt him and he has come across as not being credible at best or ignorant at worst and this could be a disaster for the government if he does not change his moves going forward.

Shaw needs to recognize that the JLP cannot do what the PNP does and get away with it, because the JLP is held to a much higher standard than the PNP.

Like this:

Related

9 Responses

does this inspire. Shaw tabled the question and was unaware that he got answers that were provided to him

—-
Shaw in the meantime denied knowing that the proceeds from the gas tax were unavailable before taking office and said it was after listening to technocrats and reviewing their projections that he became aware.

“Despite all the newspaper stories and flashing headlines, I did not know that,” the finance minister said.

It is interesting to note that the initial discussion on tax relief came four days after the Antiguan Government announced that starting this year, April 2016, personal income taxes will be abolished in that island.

Perhaps this is where Finance Minister Audley Shaw got his ‘April 1’ inspiration. Nonetheless, what is even more fascinating, is although Mr Shaw envisioned Jamaica being able to do same, he himself cautioned against the implementation of such a policy in short order.

In reference to a news article published by the Jamaica Observer on January 25, 2016, titled ‘JLP would cut income tax’, Mr Shaw posited that implementation of such a policy that of which he describes as “drastic”, could not be considered “at this time”.

Sponsored Links
Don’t do it! The game that will have you hookedSparta Free Online Game
That’s How You Find Super Cheap Flights!Save70

Mr Shaw, instead, opted for a gradual reduction in the PAYE rate until full abolition of the tax could be facilitated. He further supported his argument by adding that Jamaica’s “indebtedness and expenditure” would not allow for full removal of PAYE tax and that a gradual reduction of the rate would have to be perused over time and “in line” with debt reduction.

If Mr Shaw himself had made this observation, long before all the analysts and critics, it leads any well thinking person to wonder what changed Mr Shaw’s position? What led to such a drastic detour?

It was only four days after Mr Shaw made these pronouncements and incidentally, four days after the announcement of the general election, that then Opposition Leader Andrew Holness, in a televised broadcast, listed the removal of PAYE taxes from the salaries of over 100,000 workers as one of his many promises to bring the people of this great nation to prosperity.

As the election drew near, the plan further became the very antithesis of itself. Not only had Mr Shaw abandoned his economic conservation but all talks of “gradual” and “phased” reduction of the tax rate were tossed out. April 1 was now Christmas.

At this juncture, it now seems the Grinch of Mr Shaw’s memory has stolen Christmas, taking off with $9.5 billion in gifts and merriment.

It is rather unfortunate that Mr Shaw’s initial tax reform policy was short lived by his quest for power. Who knows, had he stuck to his initial plan of gradually reducing the tax rate, we would have been on our way to prosperity by now and not still stuck in the departure lounge until May 12.